Don't Leave
by Chrisma Steele
Summary: A Salene/Pride fic that asks: What if Pride was fatally wounded in season 4, and most of the Mall Rats were killed?
1. Default Chapter

Okay, this was extremely random, and badly written at first I think. It takes place after the episode where Salene and Pride are arguing about television, only in this version Lex isn't being held captive. If there are details wrong with it, I apologize sincerely, and I also apologize for the random part of the season this follows, I just thought this would be interesting. I do not own the Tribe by the way. Oh, and this is a Salene/Pride fic. Please r/r.  
  
Don't Leave  
  
Chapter 1: Aggressive Tendencies  
  
It wasn't supposed to end this way; the good guys were supposed to triumph and everyone was supposed o live happily ever after, wasn't that the way it was supposed to be? Now, it was all ending harshly in a sea of blood and violence with nothing to show but tears. One by one they had gone, each valiantly and bravely fighting until their last breaths, and yet their courage just wasn't enough. The attack was not expected, and they just weren't ready for the onslaught. Their numbers were too large, their weapons were too deadly, and their aim was too accurate; it was clear that they would take no prisoners, for they were trying to set an example for the rest of the Tribes. The Mall Rats had been the largest threat to the Technos, with their scheming and blatant attempts to thwart their plans, and so they had to be deleted.  
  
Lex had been the first to fall, and perhaps that had marked their fate in this battle; he might have been stupid at times, but he fought passionately for those who were no longer with them. He fought for TaiSan, though he was in love with Siva, Lex never felt that he had avenged her death, and so when he fought, he did his best to redeem himself to her memory. It was a coward's kill, Lex didn't even have a chance to retaliate, because his back was turned when they destroyed him. Everyone had just been lounging around, nothing special, when a group of Technos, marched in and began firing immediately without regard.  
  
There was no time to rally the city in battle, no time to call out for outside help, it was just the end. Everyone snapped to attention in Pride's room from sounds of the intruders, knowing all to well that they would have to fight and probably lose. The arguing immediately ceased as their minds raced. Mouse ran into the room with her eyes full of tears, and clung to Pride for protection. She was sporting a cut on his left cheek which dripped with blood. The mere sight of it outraged Pride who just couldn't understand why somebody would want to hurt harmless children. All his life he knew that the innocent and good shouldn't suffer, and this child was the definition of innocent. Anyone so blind, so cowardly to attack her could not have a soul; could not be human. At one you could see the frustration and stubbornness from the argument transform into the rage that only a warrior could have.  
  
"Salene," he said menacingly, but she knew that it was in no way directed towards her this time, "Get her out of here, we'll clear a path, won't we Eagle?" he looked to Amber who reluctantly nodded. She knew she had to help, these people were her friends and practically, but she had her own child to think about. Did she want to go into this battle? No. Did she know the risks? Yes. Was she scared? Absolutely, she was terrified at the thought of leaving her child the way her parents had left her when the virus struck. There was no other option though, it was either kill or be killed.  
  
"Right," agreed Salene ushering Mouse close to her, "You understand? Stay near me, and once you get outside run as fast as you can and get help while we do our best t-" she was cut off by Pride.  
  
"No Salene, you're not coming back in here," he took a step towards her, "Who knows if they anyone will believe a child, but they will believe you."  
  
"But-"  
  
"We need you alive Salene," he put his hand on her arm. Pride had this ability to look a person straight in the eyes even when things were at their worst and show so much emotion.  
  
"Alright," she gave a little nod and let Amber and Pride step in front of her and the children.  
  
"This is suicide," Amber whispered under her breath, "No weapons, no back up, and who knows if Cloe and Trudy are okay, they could have killed them by now."  
  
"Don't think like," Pride shot her a dark look, "What happens, happens, but that doesn't mean that we assume the worst, got it? Okay," he paused, "Everyone ready?" he gave a hand motion indicating them to charge from the room. The Technos were fighting off Trudy at that moment, and it appeared that she was the only one left, but she wasn't one to give up even with those odds. She made a fatal mistake though, at the sound of the approaching footsteps of her friends, she turned her head to see them, and with that carelessness she found herself unable to dodge an incoming blast.  
  
"Trudy!" Amber shouted trying to dash after her, but was held back by Pride.  
  
"It's too late, come on!" he hissed forcing her forward. They rushed at their opponents; fists flying, blasts being shot from all directions.  
  
Salene didn't look at her friends; she just concentrated on the door in front of her. She was afraid to death at the prospect of seeing any more of her friends be disposed of so horribly before they even had a chance to live, after all, wasn't that always the case? Anyone who had died after the virus was robbed of their life; none of the people in the city were ready to die, and none should, and yet there were three dead bodies on the floor. Salene considered herself lucky to be in such company at the moment, two Eco Warriors, though one was still week, nobody could ask for better protectors. It was a relief to know that they could handle themselves in combat, but as she ran, the thought of their inevitable end came to mind, and the fact that the last conversation she had with Pride was an argument. Perhaps she shouldn't have said those things about him after all he had done for the Mall Rats---For her. Sure she was the new "leader" of the group, but Pride was the one who held it together with his attributes; he had such an eye for things, catching the seemingly invisible; he knew what plan of action to take during trouble, and he was the type of person to fight until the end for what mattered to him. Then there was the other part of him, the part that knew how to make you feel safe, he was so easy to talk to, and maybe that is why the children liked him the most; he was the one who first connected to them, being so fatherly almost. Pride was the kind of person who grew up to quickly, as many had to after the virus struck, but he was different somehow. The thought of never seeing him again scared her more than anything else.  
  
While entwined in these thoughts, she had barely noticed when she had reached the door successfully. Salene made Mouse go out first, to insure her safety, and as Salene went to leave she was pulled back by her hair and thrown on the ground forcefully. Though dazed she recognized the weapon pointed directly at her by one of the Technos. Now she realized that she didn't have to worry about never seeing Pride again, because this was the end. As she came back to her senses, she froze, wanting to move out of the way, wanting to make a run for it, but unable to. Salene knew that she was staring death in the eye, and she couldn't take it. In anticipation for the blast, she shut her eyes tight, awaiting the pain, but it didn't have time to come. Pride had yanked her upwards, and was pulling her along quickly to the kitchen for some reason. It didn't make sense though, even if he had pulled her up, the blast would have surely gotten her by that time wouldn't it have?  
  
They took refuge under a counter, each breathing hard, and it was then that she knew why the blast hadn't come; Pride had taken it for her. He was bleeding from the right side of his abdomen that had been torn open. She heard doors open from somewhere, but she instantly dismissed it.  
  
"Pride you're hurt," she looked up into his pained eyes, which for the first time, tried to avoid hers. Immediately she ripped a piece of her shirt off and pressed it firmly against the wound, bringing forth a small cry from Pride. "We need to stop the bleeding," she removed the cloth quickly to get a better idea of the severity of the injury. The mere sight of it made her cringe.  
  
"It's pretty bad isn't it?" he whispered, the words lined with pain as he bravely looked down seeing the blood soaked cloth. Pride wasn't one to give up hope, but he knew that if this injury didn't kill him, the Technos soon would.  
  
"No," she lied, "No, you'll be fine," her eyes were watering as she recognized that her fear was coming true. To her surprise, he smiled.  
  
"You'd cry for me?" he gave a weak laugh.  
  
"Of course I would, and you know it," this couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be happening, not now, not when they were getting so close; screw the argument, screw Ram and his technology, it didn't matter now.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't talk Pride," this was too painful, "Save your strength."  
  
"You were right," he ignored her request, "I was being pig headed, I shouldn't have-"  
  
"Don't say things like that," sobs broke into her voice, "Don't talk like you're dying, don't try to make amends with me, you don't need to, I'll forgive you for anything," he placed a hand on her cheek and wiped away the tears.  
  
"I was scared before," he admitted, "Scared that if I cared for somebody I would lose them, and now that time I spent in fear was wasted," another look of pain crossed his features, "I always appreciated everything you did," she really wish that he would stop talking in past tense.  
  
"What are you trying to say?" she knew all to well what he was trying to say, but she wanted to hear him say it, before he- No! He wasn't going to die.  
  
"I should have told you a long time ago," he whispered, "Salene, I love you," with these words she cried even harder, so happy he had said it, but so miserable at the circumstance.  
  
"I love you too," she managed a smile, but it didn't last long; his eyes fluttered, wanting so much to close, wanting to go into that place of serenity and peace that could never exist on this world, "No!" she shouted, taking one hand off his wound and shaking him, "Don't die Pride," she looked down, completely destroyed. Pride's eyes became steady, but unfocused, "Don't go, don't leave me alone!"  
  
"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me," his voice was barely audible, but she heard him, and silently thanked whatever force there was up there, the force that had taken away her parents, Ryan, and so many that she had loved away, that they didn't take Pride away. "Do you hear that?" he asked, eyes sharpening. There were no more sounds of battle, only footsteps approaching their hiding place. Salene placed his hands on his wound, knowing that she would have to be the one to fight, and she had to fight.  
  
Quickly she stood up, ready to charge at the attackers, and maybe if they thought Pride was already dead from the wound, and she wound up being deleted, they would leave him alone. What she saw when she looked towards the source of the footsteps wasn't menacing figures though, but they belonged to Ebony and Jay.  
  
"Oh thank god they didn't get all of you," Ebony exclaimed striding over to her, "I had no idea this was going to happen, Ram was just so angry when Amber had escaped, and then somebody spotted her here," she was rambling again, "I never thought he would do something like this, I-"  
  
"Ebony!" Salene raised her voice, "Enough! Pride is hurt badly, we need to get him some help, and fast."  
  
"But how?" she asked, "There aren't any medical supplies in the city, we can't-"  
  
"I can get you the supplies you need," Jay interrupted, "We have medical supplies at headquarters," he walked over to where they were hiding and crouched down to see Pride, "I just need to get an idea of what we need," he lifted Pride's shaky hands so that he could see the wound. His eyes flickered; it was bad, but he couldn't tell them that.  
  
"Well?" Ebony asked anxiously coming up from behind. Jay quickly put Pride's hands in their previous position.  
  
"He'll make it," it wasn't necessarily a lie, from what he saw, and mind you he was no doctor, Pride's well being was up in the air, "Come on, help me get him to his room," he carefully pulled Pride up, taking his right side while Ebony took the left.  
  
"Wait!" called Salene, "What about Amber? Is she-"  
  
"I'm here," the roughed up form of Amber came limping towards them.  
  
"Are you okay?" Jay asked in a concerned voice, which made Ebony give him a "look."  
  
"Yeah I'm fine, banged my head a little but nothing serious" she leaned against the counter, "Just get Pride to his room, don't worry about me," Jay nodded to her and proceeded to Pride's room.  
  
Salene urgently opened a drawer and took out as many towels as she could. Jay might be able to get the medicine and supplies that Pride so desperately needed, but she knew that she came extremely close to losing him. Who knew how long it would take for Jay to come back?  
  
"Salene calm down," Amber said soothingly, but to no avail.  
  
"I can't calm down!" she shouted, still bustling around the kitchen, filling a bowl with warm water, "If Pride dies, it will be my fault, he took the blast for me, and I can't lose Pride!" she was coming close to tears again. Amber went over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders harshly.  
  
"Pride is not going to die, he's strong, and he won't die," she shook her sharply, "Even if he was going to die, which he ISN'T, it wouldn't be your fault. Pride knew what he was doing, and it was the same thing that you would have done for him. Do not blame yourself for this, got it?!" all Salene could do was nod.  
  
"We're going to get the medicine," Jay announced as he walked back into the room and headed out the door, closely followed by Ebony.  
  
"Both of you?" called Amber causing Ebony to turn back around.  
  
"No, I'm going to make sure nobody else attacks this place, they'll listen to me," she too walked out the door.  
  
"Salene," the attention was redirected to her, "I want you to take care of Pride, I'm going to find Mouse, it isn't safe for her to be alone in the city right now."  
  
"I completely forgot about Mouse," her voice was sounding critical again with worry, but Amber stayed calm.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll find her," she gave a comforting smile before leaving. Salene made her way to Pride's room with the towels and bowl, trying to ignore the bodies sprawled out all over the floor. Her friends and enemies lay destroyed, and though she hated the Technos, in a way she felt pity for them. Who was going to cry for them, and morn them? Nobody would remember them, not like the Mall Rats would remember those who had fallen. She tried to push those thoughts out of her head, now wasn't the time for contemplation.  
  
"Pride?" she said meekly as she entered the camouflaged room, holding her breath as she awaited an answer or the utter silence of death.  
  
"I'm still here," it was as if he had read her mind. He didn't lift his head though, he made no signs that he was alive, the only thing that confirmed it was his voice.  
  
"Oh thank god," she set the things on his nightstand and kneeled next to his bed.. Pride let his head fall to the right to see her, in return she gave a forced smile. His hands were no longer on his injury, perhaps he was too weak from the blood loss to apply a sufficient amount of pressure to it. Quickly she removed the bloodied piece of material from his body and carefully removed his interfering shirt.  
  
"It's funny," he said quietly, "In a way this battle helped."  
  
"How do you mean?" she asked as she wet one of the towels with the warm water.  
  
"I mean-" he cut himself off with a small groan as she dabbed his burden. She immediately stopped and gave an apologetic look, "It's okay," he swallowed hard, pushing down the pain, "I meant that the battle set things in perspective, and now we know that they aren't harmless, it just gives us something to build on against them."  
  
"Yeah," she said slowly knowing all to well that they wouldn't be fighting or rallying anytime soon, at least not until he recovered.  
  
"And we aren't arguing now," he was obviously trying to brighten her mood, but every pained, weak word he spoke just jabbed at her heart, "And we finally got things out in the open."  
  
"Yeah," she repeated, but she couldn't help giving a smile, a REAL smile, but it faded as a far off look came over her.  
  
"What are you thinking?"  
  
"Maybe," she paused wondering weather or not to continue, "Do you think that once this is all over, when you get better and the Technos are gone, that we could leave here?" she looked into his eyes and quickly looked away, "Never mind, it was a stupid thou-"  
  
"Where would we go?" he reached his hand for hers on his stomach, "Where would we go?" he repeated.  
  
"I don't know, it's just that after all that's happened here in the past, and now this, I just don't think I can take all the bad memories," she took her hand away from his to put the wet towel on the nightstand and replaced it with a thick white one, "Maybe we could stay with the Eco Tribe? Go with Amber when she heads back."  
  
"You'd like it there," he said with a smile, "It might be the best thing for both of us."  
  
"Really?" she couldn't believe that he was agreeing with her on this.  
  
"Yes. I don't think I could stay here either," there was a long silence, where both just smiled at each other's comments.  
  
"I'm going to get you some water okay?" Salene stood up.  
  
"Don't be long," he replied softly.  
  
"I won't," she left the room with an even larger smile on her face, in a way, this attack was a miracle.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Well? The second half of it was better than the first no? Well please r/r, it really encourages me to write more ( 


	2. The New Plan

Yay, another chapter! Quick shout out to Lilac Flower for giving me some free advertising and everybody needs to read Nonamegivenyet {I spelled that right, right?} which is an excellent story. I would also like to thank Piper for reviewing, so thank you! I know the title to this story is completely horrible {anyone have any suggestions?} AND that there were a lot of errors in chapter 1, and I think I managed to fix them {key word being "think"} I do not own The Tribe, by the by, somebody else does. Please r/r when you're done.  
  
Chapter 2: The New Plan  
  
She hesitantly walked back into the kitchen, trying not to see the bodies, trying not to even think about the people she would never see again. She instead looked at the space where they had hidden only ten minutes ago; she didn't realize how much he had bled until she saw the puddle. As she grabbed a glass from a cabinet and began to fill it, something dawned on her; Pride was right when he said that they now had something to build against them. The Mall Rats were well known in the community, and for the most part, they were respected; Salene's mind was racing with her developing idea: if they held a public funeral, where the majority of the city was present, then they could see that the Technos could not be allowed to rule over them. The marks made from the blasts were distinguishable as the weapons that the Technos carried, so wasn't that proof? Of course it was proof, and if that wasn't enough, she had witnesses, one of them being "the enemy," maybe this was what they had been waiting for. The more she thought about it, the more confident she became about how this would work. Surely Ved and Siva would turn to their side after what had happened to Cloe and Lex at the hand of their leader, and maybe more of the Technos would after knowing the truth. Salene wouldn't explain her plan until everyone was back, but she suspected that the same thoughts had crossed their minds as well.  
  
Taking a deep breath she re-entered Prides room, and pulled up the only chair in the room. She smiled at his weakened figure; it was just such an odd sight to see. Pride never showed physical weakness, he was always the invincible man in her mind, sending out the vibe of the warrior. There were people stronger than him, and bigger than him, but none ever dared to pick a fight with him, none dared to even think about messing with him. It was funny what a compassionate person this intimidator was once you got to know him, which took a long time. Pride was reserved, not so much as to be reclusive, but he never talked about himself in detail, and perhaps that's why it's so hard for him to admit that he is wrong, because he doesn't let people in on what exactly he is thinking, and the plans he has, and she was sure that he did have plans. Salene had seen in him something, though, when he was with the children he opened up, and maybe it was their influence on him that allowed Pride to start to open up to her. She hated seeing him like this.  
  
"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Not as much as before," was it a lie? She wondered if he would ever admit to pain, even when she knew the severity of it.  
  
"Here," she lifted his head gently and put the glass to his lips. It was then she realized that he probably needed a blood transfusion, or else he wouldn't be so weak, but there was no way to get it. Again she was scared for him. She placed the glass on the nightstand, next to the damp, bloody towel. He sighed.  
  
"I hate this," he closed his eyes briefly, as if trying to block it all out.  
  
"So do I," her voice was small and faded, as she felt as though she could cry again as she looked down at white towel covering his injury, knowing that it was absorbing his blood. It wasn't spilling out now, but still, he had lost far too much. Pride opened his eyes at the sound of her shaken voice.  
  
"What's wrong?" immediately after speaking he knew what was wrong, it was obvious.  
  
"I just don't want to lose you," her eyes were beginning to water once more.  
  
"You're not going to lose me," his face was serious and stern, "If you don't believe that I can overcome this, there is no way that I can," he always said such words of wisdom. Salene wiped her eyes and gave a short little chuckle.  
  
"You're right," she bowed her head and looked at the ground, "I do believe in you," she put her hand on his, in return he gave it a comforting squeeze. A moment later they heard the front doors open and close bringing apprehension from the couple, praying that is wasn't a second wave. They were extremely relieved when Mouse came running into the room into Salene's embrace.  
  
"Thank goodness you're alright," she said softly as Mouse pulled away and looked at Pride who tried his best to look well, but Mouse wasn't stupid, she saw where the wound was now concealed and her eyes widened. Her eyes now too became rimmed with tears, but she said nothing.  
  
"Hey," said Pride strictly, "Too many tears have been shed for me today, please believe me, I will be fine," she sniffled and carefully hugged him around the shoulders. Amber entered the room and gave a tragic looking smile at the embrace.  
  
"Mouse," Salene as Mouse turned to her, "Why don't you go clean off that cut and head to bed? It's been a long day and you look like you could use a good rest," Mouse hesitated, and quickly looked at Pride who gave a very small nod.  
  
"Okay," she paused, "You'll come tuck me in, right?"  
  
"I promise," she replied warmly. Mouse gave Pride another hug and left the room. "You okay Amber?"  
  
"Yeah," she was leaning against the doorframe, "What about you two?" there was an uncomfortable pause in which Amber walked to the left side of Pride's bed and sat down.  
  
"Fine," he said shortly, knowing very well that she didn't even have to ask that question.  
  
"Salene, you promised!" called Mouse from her room. Salene stood up, kissed and kissed Pride on the forehead affectionately before leaving the room.  
  
"So," Amber began, "How are you really feeling?"  
  
"Like I was blasted in the stomach," he voice didn't hold bitterness, just sincerity.  
  
"While I was out, I called the contact," she was wary of telling him this.  
  
"Are you sure that was a good idea?"  
  
"He knows a little medicine, and I thought he might be able to help," she explained looking away from him. Again he sighed.  
  
"When will he be here?"  
  
"Probably tomorrow morning."  
  
"And what if it's to late by then?" he knew that he shouldn't have said that, but it just slipped out. Pride hadn't let Salene on to the fact the he knew very well that he could die.  
  
"It won't be too late; Jay will be here any time now and we'll have you bandaged up and then Patch will come and you'll be better, I promise."  
  
"I hope you're right," he closed his eyes again in thought.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she lowered her voice, "You never used to have doubts like this before, stay strong!" he didn't talk for at least thirty seconds.  
  
"I didn't have anything to lose before," he opened his eyes.  
  
"I see," in a way his words had hurt her, hadn't she always been special to him? "You mean Salene and Mouse?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You really love her don't you?" she mused about Salene.  
  
"Yes," he repeated with a little smile playing on his lips, "For the first time, something feels right, you know?"  
  
"Mm hm," she smiled a little, but she had to admit, she was a little jealous. Amber had no time to turn into a full fledged green eyed monster, because she heard the doors open, then the voices of Salene, Ebony, and Jay approach. "Well?" she asked as Jay reached the room.  
  
"I got everything I thought we'd need," he set down the bag he was carrying, "Ram almost caught me, but he was in to much of a good mood to even notice the bag," his face turned into a scowl.  
  
"About that," said Salene, "I think I've come up with something that might end this whole thing," everybody looked at her with surprise.  
  
"Salene," it was Ebony who spoke, "I really don't think this is the time to be devising plans."  
  
"I know, but it's just that," she groaned, "Just let me explain it to you while Jay fixes up Pride okay?" there were murmurs of hesitant agreement, though very skeptical. So off she went, explaining about how a public funeral displaying the wounds would rally the city against Ram and his lackeys. By the time she had finished, so had Jay with Pride who was now excessively bandaged.  
  
"I think you've got something there," Ebony had that glint in her eyes as she spoke; "It might work."  
  
"The funeral has to be done anyway," Jay said as he stood up, "I mean there is no way the Technos would do anything at a funeral, it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to the public, and prove the wrong doings that are going on."  
  
"You'll tell Ved and Siva what happened right?" asked Amber, "Or did they know about it the whole time?" Jay shook his head.  
  
"Neither of them would have stood for it," he folded his arms across his chest, "What do you think Pride."  
  
"I think that it's the best chance we've got," he replied.  
  
"Patch can make flyers for us," Amber addressed Pride, "He's good with computers like that."  
  
"Then it's settled," Ebony slapped her hands together, "Now, I suggest we continue the discussion in the morning, because I think everyone could do with a little rest."  
  
"What if they come back?" questioned Amber.  
  
"They won't," Jay answered her rather flatly, "They are too busy celebrating this massacre to send another troop."  
  
"Alright then," Amber arose and stretched as everyone exited the room, "Feel better Pride," and with that, she left Salene and Pride alone once more. Salene took Amber's previous position sitting on the left side of Pride's bed.  
  
"I'm so tired," of course he was.  
  
"I know it's stupid," Salene said, "But I'm afraid that if you go to sleep, you may never wake up again."  
  
"That won't happen," he assured her.  
  
"I know, but all the same," she laid down next to him, putting her head on his chest, and carefully draping her arm over him, "I think I'll stay here, to make sure I can hear your heart beating."  
  
"Thank you," he whispered as he gathered strength to move his arm around her, to hold her.  
  
Together the fell asleep, both exhausted from the happenings of the day. It felt like things had happened only minutes ago, and yet it was night already. In each other's arms though, reality disappeared, filling their dreams with only happiness, and images of each other.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Now doesn't that just make you go "Awwww," and feel all warm and fuzzy inside? It doesn't? Then something is terribly wrong with you. I'll try to get more soon, not that I know where I'm going with the story, so please r/r! 


	3. Stubborn Warrior

Wow, what a long time it has been, but here we are with chapter 3 {it is chapter 3 right?} It is now about 3:30am, and the last bit of this is insomnia induced, so if it is complete gibberish I apologize in advance. I don't own The Tribe, other people do. Please r/r at the end.  
  
Chapter 3: Stubborn Warrior  
  
It was the morning after the massacre, and only two people were awake, looking at the carnage that the Technos left behind. The bodies of the enemies and their friends were left there as blank faces, staring endlessly into the void with their empty eyes. Jay simply shook his head in a disappointed astonishment, death was never the answer, hadn't society learned that from the virus? He turned his head to Ebony who was putting on the brave, strong face which only meant that she too was devastated. An ugly task was now at hand, being that they had to do something with the bodies. There was no way they would be able to get enough coffins for all the bodies, but maybe that was a good thing; every scratch would be visible without the coffin covering any part of them. The tribes would see the people they new and respected killed by the Technos, and the Technos would see their peers, their friend killed by their own leader. Yes, Ram was to blame for all this death, he had probably known that there would be casualties, it was a doomed suicide mission from the beginning.  
  
"What do you suppose?" Ebony asked in a small, defeated voice. She did not look at him when she spoke, because she knew that it should be her dead on the floor, not them. The "what if" scenarios kept running through her head, if she had just been more cooperative with Ram, if she had agreed to marry him, than perhaps this wouldn't have happened, perhaps he would have spared her friends. Jay sighed.  
  
"I'm not sure," he looked from face to face, this shouldn't have happened, "Separate them to different sides of the room, they'll be less noticeable that way maybe."  
  
"Good plan," came a voice from behind them which belonged to Amber. She had that placid look on her face from just waking up. "Technos on the left side and Mall Rats on the right," her instructions annoyed Ebony.  
  
"Who put you in charge here?" her brows furrowed in frustration, Amber had no right to try to lead now.  
  
"And who do you think would be a better leader, you?" she gave a little laugh, "Oh yes, last time you were in power you banished your friends in their moment of need and basically lost control of the city."  
  
"I did what I had to do!" she raised her voice in anger seeing as Amber had to dig up the past.  
  
"Tell me Ebony, did you ever really consider any of us friends?" she took a step forward boldly, "Or were we just pawns the whole time?"  
  
"How dare you even ge-" Ebony was cut off by Jay, deciding finally to step in.  
  
"Enough!" he stepped in between the two bickering women, "We don't need to be arguing, we need to be working together to get everything sorted out," there was a silence as both Ebony and Amber agreed with indignant nods.  
  
"Alright," Ebony finally broke the silence caustically, "Technos on the left, Mall Rats on the right then. Should we wake Salene to help?" Amber smiled.  
  
"I think we best leave her alone, besides she looks far to comfortable."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Go see for yourself," she gave a hand motion gesturing to two to go see, but stopped them as they headed for Salene's room, "No, in Pride's room," Jay and Ebony cast suspicious looks at each other, lined with curiosity. They made there way to Pride's room, but with every step taken they were reminded of his condition which made their hearts sink.  
  
"Well would you look at that," whispered Ebony as they entered the "nature room" to see the couple fast asleep in each other's arms, "Who knew?"  
  
"I did," gloated Amber, "They never really showed their affection to each other that much, but you could see it in the way they looked at each other---I'm just glad one couple made it out of this alive."  
  
"Yeah," Jay's face darkened as he realized that he would have to be the one to break the news to Ved and Siva, who would surely overreact. Then again, how could somebody overreact to that kind of news? The people they loved, the ONLY people they loved were killed right under their noses. They would probably end up blaming themselves for the incident, and Jay doubted whether either of them would ever be the same again.  
  
"You okay Jay?" Amber asked as she noticed his far away stare. He blinked back into reality.  
  
"Oh," he replied slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, we should get to work moving the bodies," they all turned to leave, but heard a voice from the main entrance.  
  
"Hello?" called the voice of a young man. His loud entrance caused the sleeping pair to stir from their sleep, to see the three people spying on them. Jay didn't care that he had been caught though, he was more concerned as to the voices owner.  
  
"Who is that?" he whispered urgently to the others.  
  
"Relax, it's our contact, he's going to try to sort out Pride," Amber stepped out of the room closely followed by Ebony and Jay. Salene sat up from the safe arms of Pride, a little sore from the awkward position she had slept in.  
  
"Contact?" she asked sleepily as she stretched out her arms.  
  
"Patch," he explained, "His brothers were taken by the Technos a while back, but it was a good thing they didn't get him. He is like Jack on a computer, and the fact that he's been reading upon medicine helps out too."  
  
"Do you think he'll be able to help you?" she stared at him with worry, he looked worse than he had before; he was pale and his whole body was cold, aside from where she had been laying.  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"You don't look so good," she admitted quietly, not able to look into his eyes.  
  
"I know," he whispered, looking down bitterly, "I've said it before and I'll say it again; don't worry about me, I'll be fine."  
  
"I'll worry all I want to," she teased, trying to raise his spirits, "Somebody has to dote over you, and it might as well be me," she was happy to see that she had gotten a smile out of him.  
  
"Hello Pride," Patch said nervously as he walked into the room. He turned his attention to Salene, "Hello, Salene right?" she nodded.  
  
"How you been Patch?" Pride asked, and it was just so like him to ask about the welfare of others when he was the one suffering.  
  
"Oh, you know been better, been worse," with shaky hands he placed a bag down on the chair that Salene had sat on the night before, "I guess we shouldn't waste time, may I?" he indicated to the bandaged.  
  
"The sooner the better," he gave a hollow laugh, with a sense of nervousness that only Salene seemed to detect.  
  
"You do know what you're doing, right?" she questioned anxiously.  
  
"I'm not going to lie to you," he explained, "I am nowhere near being a doctor, but I guess I'm the closest thing to it," as he spoke he cut the bandages down the middle and pulled them away. Patch cast an uncertain look at Salene who did her best not to look at the injury that seemed like a gaping hole in his side. Pride moved his head to see the extent of the damage, but Salene gently moved his to face her.  
  
"Don't look," she begged him, taking a hold of his left hand.  
  
"Well?" asked Pride gravely. Patch shook his head.  
  
"If only we had the right supplies then we could staple it, not literally of course, or maybe we'd be able to even sew it up, but---" he was cut off.  
  
"But we don't have the supplies," interrupted Pride, "Is there anything you can do?"  
  
"Well," he began but promptly shook the thought from his head, "No, no, no, we couldn't do that, it's just so, so," he could not find the words to finish the sentence that he was muttering to himself.  
  
"What is it Patch?" Salene demanded, bringing forth an irritated sigh from the "doctor."  
  
"Okay," he gave in, "There was a tactic used a long time ago, before electricity, before modern times really, and it was used when a person got stabbed or shot with an arrow in battle-"  
  
"Just get to the point," an annoyed Ebony said from the doorway, nobody had even noticed her presence there until now.  
  
"Right," he took an unsure breath, "They would heat stone until it was red and press it to the wound, forcing it to close up basically," there was a long silence as everyone in the room contemplated this idea. Finally Ebony spoke:  
  
"That is just ridiculous!" she exclaimed, "Do you know how painful and unsafe that would be? Surely there must be another way."  
  
"Well, there isn't," he said shortly, "But if you want to think of another way, while Pride bleeds to death, than be my guest," he gestured to the wound, that indeed was still bleeding to everyone's horror.  
  
"I'm bleeding to death?" Pride's voice was low and almost inaudible, because he did not think of this possibility; he had just thought that the wound itself would kill him, not the bleeding.  
  
"From what I can tell by just looking at you," he gave him a look over, "From your pupils, and your coloration, and," he paused to feel Pride's pulse from his wrist, "From your heart rate, you really should have a blood transfusion, but seeing as we don't have the knowledge or means to do that, we just need to pray that you haven't lost that much blood," this rung clearly through Salene's head, hadn't she just thought about this possibility last night? She unknowingly gave Pride's hand a worried squeeze, cauing him to look up at her, and then back at Patch.  
  
"Alright then," he took a deep breath, "Do what you have to."  
  
"Pride," Salene began to argue but was stopped.  
  
"I've seen this done in the Eco Tribe before, and it usually works," he was trying his best to convince her.  
  
"The key word there being "usually," what happened when it didn't work Pride, huh?" Ebony took a step forwards with her arms crossed. She had never particularly liked Pride, and he had never liked her, but she respected him for the warrior that he had proven he was. "Well?" he took a deep breath and looked from Ebony to Salene to Patch to some distant place I his own mind.  
  
"There is no other way," he decided calmly.  
  
"Oh I can't believe this!" Ebony raised her voice, bringing alarm to the two people clearing the bodies in the main entrance. Amber entered the room followed by Jay.  
  
"What's all the commotion?" Amber looked from person to person, much like Pride just had, only, she was seeking answers.  
  
"We're gonna burn it," Pride informed her, knowing very well that she knew what he had meant, for she had seen it done also.  
  
"Oh no," she wasn't disagreeing with him, she was more saddened and dismayed by the whole prospect, "You realize how many people di-" he cut her off before she could finish. Pride had wanted them to believe that the percentile of people who lived from this technique was large, so they wouldn't worry.  
  
"It has to be done," he said firmly, giving her a look that could stop somebody dead in their tracks; it was his intimidation factor, his "Eco Warrior" coming out.  
  
"Right then," Patch jumped into the conversation again, "If you're sure that's what you want to do, we can put some sheet metal in the oven or something."  
  
"No," everybody had their eyes on Pride once more as he disagreed, "I will not let the same force that did this to me attempt to cure me. No electricity, no sheet metal, nothing modern," he sounded disgusted by the whole concept of technology at this point.  
  
"So what you're saying is that you want us to find stone, heat it over a fire, and use that?" Jay wanted to make sure he got it straight, "Do you know how infectious that could be?"  
  
"I don't care," if he could, he would have crossed his arms stubbornly.  
  
"Pride, be reasonable," Salene looked at him with pleading eyes; he hated to see her so distraught, but these were his principles, if he was going to get well again, he wanted it to be a gift from nature, not a fixed error of mechanics.  
  
"This is the way it's going to be," the tone of his voice meant that there was no swaying him, and that the matter was closed.  
  
"Fine," she said shortly. Ugh! Salene wanted to scream at him, to slap him, shake him, anything to bring him to his senses! Didn't he care that he might die because of his integrity?! Well, that was Pride for you; it must be where he had gotten the name. There was a long pause as the tension became unbearable, making everybody seem uneasy.  
  
"We best be finding a suitable stone then," Ebony was addressing the others, but was staring at Pride with her icy eyes. They turned to leave.  
  
"No need," Salene stood up off the bed, "I think I have just the thing," she left the room without another word, leaving everyone confused and curious.  
  
"I'll start a fire," Jay offered, which made Ebony snort.  
  
"With your bare hands?" she gave him a look of disbelief, but he just smiled.  
  
"I wasn't always a Techno Ebony," he brought his attention to Patch, "You'll need the fire in here I guess?"  
  
"That would be best I think."  
  
"I guess we'll use that sheet metal after all," he looked at Pride, "If you don't mind using it for the base of the fire, you know, so the whole mall doesn't catch on fire," Pride simply nodded in agreement, "Alright then, Ebony, Amber, you two get some fire wood from outside-"  
  
"We have some already stored," interrupted Amber.  
  
"Good, then let's get to work shall we?" the exited to gather the supplies.  
  
"So why do you want this to be natural and all so much?" Questioned Patch.  
  
"I don't know," he sighed, "Grudge on technology I guess. After all, I heard that the virus was man made, which just goes to show you how much human development can cause."  
  
"We don't know that it was man made Pride."  
  
"Right, and all of a sudden all the adults just drop dead of a dormant virus?" he laughed, "That sure doesn't sound convincing to me." -------  
  
Salene entered her room to find Mouse hugging her knees on her bed.  
  
"Is Pride gonna be okay? Only her eyes were visible behind her legs.  
  
"He is going to be just fine," Salene put on the brave face and forced a smile, still unsure of it all. She began rummaging through her drawers, looking for something.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Mouse got up and walked over to her curiously.  
  
"Remember when I showed you that stone carving?" she asked as she continued to look. Salene was referring to one of the days she had entertained Mouse, trying to keep her happy and out of the way of the stressed out older kids, when she had decided to show her a gift she had received from her grandfather.  
  
"Uh huh," Mouse nodded vigorously.  
  
"Well," she said pulling it out of the bottom drawer, "This is going to save Pride's life," *I hope*  
  
To be continued.  
  
Cliffhanger, mwhahaha, I know, I am evil beyond evil, but can you blame me? This chapter was so long to begin with, so I thought I'd leave you hanging my whole 2 readers. Please r/r 


	4. Toll of Technology

Next chapter up and ready to go! Cloud 9 owns The Tribe, not me. R/r!!  
  
Chapter 4: The Toll of Technology  
  
There were only two people in the room now, Pride, and Jay who was working on the fire. Pride appeared to be asleep, and even with all the craziness going on, who could blame him for sleeping? The man was near death, no matter how much of a brave face he put on, he was right on the edge. Jay felt so sorry for him, but at the same time he felt incredibly angry and deceived by this act on innocent people. He was supposed to be the general, he was supposed to know about these things, and yet he was kept in the dark. Finally the spark caught and the fire was going.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Pride asked with his eyes still closed. Jay turned from his kneeling position and looked at the battered soldier.  
  
"I thought you were asleep," he avoided the question, and Pride opened his eyes.  
  
"No, just clearing my thoughts. So why are you doing this?" he repeated his unanswered question.  
  
"I figure that I owe you my life, so I might as well help out," it was the truth, but to the wrong question, which made Pride give a little laugh.  
  
"You know that's not what I meant."  
  
"I thought," Jay began as he stood up and brushed his hands on his pants, "That the Technos were able to do some good for the world, I figured that if I got high enough in ranks that I could sway Ram into making schools, and hospitals, you know things like that," he crossed his arms, "But ever since we came here, I've gotten the impression that the Technos aren't going to do anything positive, and this incident just proved that."  
  
"What about your brother?"  
  
"Ved?" he sighed, "Ved is---he is the type of person who gets really into something, like if he starts a book he won't stop reading it until he is done, not that he reads all that often. He's a good kid, but he is so drastic sometimes."  
  
"But you think this whole thing will bring him over to our side?"  
  
"Maybe, but who can tell with him?" at that moment the rest of the group walked in, all with anxious looks on their faces. Salene moved so that she was on his right, as close to the wall as she could get so that Patch would have room to work.  
  
"You sure about this?" Patch asked as he put on a pair of very thick gloves. Pride simply nodded. "If you say so," with a pair of tongs he took the stone and began to heat it over the fire, "It shouldn't take long," in the void of time in which the rock was heating, everyone knew that somebody should say something, anything, but they just didn't know how to put their fears into words. This was the only way, but it seemed so unnecessarily painful, as if it were a type of torture. Patch took the stone off the fire to reveal a slight redness to it.  
  
"I can't watch this," Ebony stormed out of the room just thinking about what was about to happen.  
  
"I better go make sure she's okay," Jay gave Pride a quick reassuring nod and also left the room.  
  
"Here, bite down on this," Salene handed him a piece of wood wrapped in clean cloth, which he accepted and placed in his mouth. She took his hand, knowing perfectly well that in the midst of this medical tactic he may end up breaking every bone in it.  
  
"Okay, here we go," he carefully lowered the stone onto Prides wound, making his body jolt with the instant pain. Patch took the tongs away and let the flesh burn.  
  
"It'll be okay, it'll be over soon," Salene kept muttering these words to him, though he wasn't listening. The sensation was so unbearable that it was like all his senses were turned off; he couldn't here anything, his eyes were shut tightly so he couldn't see anything, and he couldn't even feel Salene's hand in his due to the suffering that he was enduring. He but down into the wood in his mouth, grateful that is was there, or else he might end up biting off his own tongue. Pride could feel pressure being lightly put on the stone so that it went over all of the injury, he figured it was Patch's doing. He kept expecting it to go away, but it did not, even after the stone was removed the pain lingered, and as the cool air hit it, the pain worsened. Just like a burn that one would sustain from a hot stove top, the pain doesn't fully hit you until after the initial shock of it. The wood dropped from his mouth as the pain lessened, but was replaced by the new pain of the "post operation."  
  
"Isn't there something you can do?!" Amber yelled from the corner as she watched her friends suffer. He had been there during her time of suffering, it was just a shame that she couldn't do the same, she just didn't know how.  
  
"What?" Patch snapped back to life, tearing his gaze away from the blackened part of flesh, "Oh! Yes, of course," he quickly began to rummage through his bag and pulled out two things; one being a syringe, and the other being a small bottle of liquid. "Morphine, it should help with the pain, maybe nock him out," he took Prides arm and found a vain at his elbow.  
  
"Wait!" Salene put her free hand on his shoulder, "How do you know how much to use? Couldn't too much kill him?" she remembered hearing this from the doctors when her parents had gotten the virus.  
  
"Well, I suppose that-" he honestly didn't know, he had just planned on estimating.  
  
"You're telling me that you don't know how much to use and you were about to stick that needle into him?!" she was furious that after all this, he would gamble away Pride's life.  
  
"I know how much to use," came Jay's voice as he re entered the room and hastily pushed Patch out of the way.  
  
"I thought you were looking after Ebony?" Amber asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice. He shot her a look and if he were saying 'you know very well this is not the time or place to talk about it.'  
  
"Ebony can take care of herself," he remarked as he stuck the needle into Pride's arm, first taking a little blood and then injecting the medicine. Salene looked away, she had always hated shots, it just seemed so wrong to purposely stick any sharp object into one's self. Almost immediately she felt his hand loosen it's tight grip as he fell into a state of unconsciousness.  
  
"Where did you learn to do that?" questioned a curious Patch.  
  
"Around," Jay answered all too quickly, "He'll be up in a few hours, I didn't give him all that much and s-" he stopped and looked at the raw burn, "That was on purpose I suppose?" he smiled as he asked this question to Salene who gave a weary smile back.  
  
"I thought he would appreciate it," she gently put Pride's hand to his side.  
  
"He will," agreed Amber who had taken a step forward to get a better view.  
  
"More so than what it could look like you mean," it wasn't a question, it was a statement. He turned his attention to Patch, "Can you bandage him up?"  
  
"Sure," Patch seemed unsure of himself once again; when he was playing doctor, Patch was all business, but when he was just himself and given orders, he wasn't very confident. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the materials that he would need, including a bottle of ointment.  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, "Amber narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Where did you get all this stuff?" he gave a little smile.  
  
"Sometimes the smallest tribes have the easiest time getting their demands," he said very simply, "Now if you all don't mind," his bit of secrecy renewed some of his vigor, "The patient needs his rest, so out!" Jay and Amber complied, But Salene just stood there, "Salene?"  
  
"Please just let me stay, I promise I won't be a bother," she looked at him with the pleading expression she had used so much in the past two days.  
  
"Fine," he groaned and set to work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Ebony sat in the kitchen as the others came in after being shooed away by Patch. She was staring down into his mug of water, her hands were shaking.  
  
"I never thought you the type to get scared off by something like that," Amber said cruelly as she too sat down. Ebony just looked at her in an unbelieving way.  
  
"Do you really want to get at it now?!" she demanded, "After all of our friends were killed in cold blood?!"  
  
"No," Amber replied quietly, feeling a little ashamed of herself, "You're right."  
  
"Besides," Ebony continued, "I'm not the kind of person to get scared off by gore, if that's what you meant, but I am the type of person to get scared off when somebody is suffering because of something I did."  
  
"What do you mean?" Jay sounded very serious and even a little angry, "What did you do?!"  
  
"I didn't know that this would happen," tears were welding up in her eyes, "I was just trying to convince Ram that I hated the Mall Rats, so I told him about all the things we had done, and that I wasn't really involved. I had no idea that he would-"  
  
"Well you should have!" Jay snapped, "You can't say things like that to Ram, you don't know him like I know him! He must have gotten the idea that the Mall Rats are a threat, and he eliminates threats!" he threw his hands up in frustration and began to walk towards the exit.  
  
"Where are you going?" Ebony was starting to cry.  
  
"To inform Ved and Siva about what's happened, somebody's got to," he slammed the door on the way out.  
  
"Way to go," Amber rose from her seat.  
  
"And you?"  
  
"I'm going to check on Mouse, tell her that Pride's all right," she shot Ebony a glare before disappearing out of her sight. Ebony buried her head in her hands and wept. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
A few hours later, Salene sat in Pride's room, where Patch's bag had been earlier and held Pride's hand once more. The lights in the room had been turned off, dimming the room a little, but natural sunlight still seemed to seep it's was in. Patch had left her alone after he finished the bandaging; it wasn't much, but it would work. She was so sleepy, this whole experience had exhausted her. Even in the little time she had slept, she wasn't truly sleeping, because her mind was running a mile a minute worrying about Pride. It was her fault that he was in this position; no matter how much anybody tried to convince her otherwise, it was her fault. If she had been faster, she would have made it out with Mouse, and then Jay and Ebony would have come to the rescue as Pride and Amber fought them off, and everything would be okay. He took the blast for her, and this made her so sad, but then again, he took the blast for her, because he loved her---It was weird to think, he loved her, and she loved him more than she had anyone else. She would always play second fiddle to Amber though, she kept thinking over and over again, but then something occurred to her; both Pride and Amber were fighting, and they were both at risk for getting zapped, and yet not once did he go to her rescue; not once did he take a hit for her; could it be that Salene was playing second fiddle to nobody? It certainly seemed that way, and yet look where it got them.  
  
"Hey," came a sleepy voice from the bed. He was awake and looking right at her, how long had he been staring like that?  
  
"Hey," she smiled, "How are you feeling?" it took him a moment to answer, as if he were assessing himself.  
  
"Numb," he finally replied. Pride tried to sit up, but immediately found out that sitting sup wasn't the best idea. She couldn't help but give a little giggle.  
  
"You never learn do you?" but just to spite her, he managed to sit up after a minute of struggling, "I'm impressed."  
  
"What that I proved you wrong?" he gave a little smirk.  
  
"No, I'm impressed that after having been severely burned, and then shot up with Morphine, that you were able to be in the state of mind to prove me wrong," it was just a complicated way of saying 'yes, but I'm not admitting it.'  
  
"I recover very quickly," he assured her.  
  
"Uh huh," she laughed again, "And when the medicine finally does lose its effect, you probably won't remember a word of this conversation."  
  
"You sure about that, when did you become a doctor anyway?" he was teasing! Of all the times to be a teasing flirt, he does it when he doesn't even know what the hell he's saying!  
  
"I'm more of a nurse I think," she thought it best to humor him.  
  
"You know I really did like you're idea about leaving," he was beginning to fall back to sleep again, "Just you and me in nature, maybe we could bring Mouse along."  
  
"That sounds wonderful," she stood up and drew the covers back up, they had slipped when he was struggling to sit up.  
  
"One big," his eyes were closing slowly, "One big happy family," with that he fell asleep once more, but his words had effect on her. Pride may have been completely out of it, but it was sort of like when a person is drunk: the truth comes out. Perhaps it was the same case here, and if so, then he wanted to settle down, with her. Salene kissed him on the forehead and decided to leave the room, something told her that he would be just fine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Salene entered the kitchen, but was surprised by the two added faces amongst the crowd. There was Siva crying her eyes out and being comforted by Ebony of all people! They were sisters, and perhaps it just took a tragedy like this to remind them. The second person was Ved, but he wasn't crying, or looking for comfort, he just sat there staring off into space. He had the face of a boy, but behind that mask there wasn't a boy, no there was a man who had been forced to grow up too quickly. He looked utterly destroyed and defeated, and Salene could have guessed that he wouldn't at all mind being reunited with Cloe in death. Jay was leaning against the refrigerator, with the same distant look as his brother. Patch, and Amber were nowhere to be seen.  
  
"He woke up a moment ago," Salene informed them quietly. She didn't know how to console them, what to say to ease the pain, she decided to leave that to their family. She remembered that when she was young, and her parents were still alive, what they would do to help her, and though it sounded stupid, it always did, so she got to work on making some hot tea. The silence as this process was happening was simply eerie, but was broken:  
  
"I always knew there was no difference between Technos and Virts," Ved said still looking off into the distance, everyone was no looking at him and Siva had stopped crying for a moment, "But for a while I convinced myself that we were better," he paused, "To Ram, these are just deleted files. Oh god where did we go wrong?"  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Now I bet you're wondering, "What was up with the burn? Why will Pride appreciate it?" Well, I was going to put it in this chapter, but changed my mind mwhaha. Sorry if any of it doesn't make sense, it is 1:57am, but r/r anyway please. 


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